Pline Bluff Regrets
by Blue Twilight
Summary: Oneshot set after The Pine Bluff Variant. What if soem people in the government had problems with Scully's actions in trying to protect Mulder? MSR, of course.


One-shot. Just a little idea I got after watching "The Pine Bluff Variant", which is an episode that I really like. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from The X-Files.

Warning: some spoilers for "The Pine Bluff Variant", it would be pretty key for you to have seen this ep to get this completey.

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**Pine Bluff - Regrets**

"So at that time you felt that your partner was indeed a traitor to his country who was working with terrorists?"

"I was not certain of anything at that point, Sir."

Scully felt as if she had been repeating her story for the past three hours. She was seated in a conference room with Skinner and two other men who she did not recognize but could only presume were government big-wigs. One wore a grey suit while the other's was brown. It was the latter who was questioning her now.

"And why did you not inform us of his possible treachery, Agent Scully? Why did you go after him yourself without alerting anyone?"

Scully thought carefully about how to answer him. She had wanted to confront Mulder herself. She would have needed to hear it from his own lips before she could turn him in to the government which he so distrusted and feared.

"Well, Sir, I did not want to cause undo trouble, as I had no direct evidence, just a paranoid suspicion."

"I would say your suspicion was less than paranoid. You saw him leave with the terrorist. That should have been enough."

_But it turned out okay in the end!_ Scully wanted to shout. _He was innocent! You yourself stopped me from following him. _She personally didn't see it as that big a deal, but apparently these men disagreed.

"I believed that there could have been other explanations, and I did not want to put the government and Agent Mulder through unnecessary measures."

"So you ignored your civic duty to protect Agent Mulder?"

"That is most certainly not what I said, Sir!"

"That's what it damn well sounded like, Agent Scully!"

The man in grey was much more tranquil. He meaningfully rested a hand on his colleagues shoulder and took over the questioning. Gently, he began, "You are very close with your partner, no, Agent Scully?"

"He has been my partner for the past five years. We are the sole workers on a division of the FBI that gets little attention. We really work only with each other. We are as close as that situation would reasonably entail."

"Reasonably is an interesting word there, Agent Scully. What can one reasonably conclude? There are, as I am sure you are aware, many possible scenarios. Please recall that you are under oath, now. Exactly how close are you and Agent Mulder?"

"Sir, we have never broken any of the rules of professional conduct."

"So, you have never slept together, then?"

"That is correct, Sir."

"But you do find Agent Mulder to be very attractive, no?"

Scully blushed red. Skinner spoke up. "Excuse me, Sir, but I do not feel that that question is appropriate. It has no bearing on whether or not Agent Scully has broken any code of ethics or standards."

"I disagree, AD Skinner. I feel that it is extremely relevant. We are trying to find if Agent Scully acted wrongfully by not alerting us to what could have been a terrible situation. If she did this to save her partner despite her suspicions, than I feel that it is worth examining what exactly their relationship is and, in the case that Agent Scully is not dismissed, then at least to reassign her. Now, both agents are objectively quite attractive individuals who spend practically their every waking hour together. That type of environment might result in situations that would be, well, regrettable. Therefore, you will allow me to continue my questioning uninterrupted, okay?"

Skinner gritted his teeth. "Yes, Sir. Go ahead."

"Well, Agent Scully? An answer, please."

By this time, Scully had composed herself again and was ready for it. "Honestly, Sir, yes. I feel that most people would agree that Agent Mulder is an attractive man. You yourself said it."

"Fine." By this point, even he seemed to be growing tired of the endless questioning. "One more question, Agent Scully."

"Yes?"

"If your partner approached you and asked you to sleep with him, what would you say to him?"

Skinner moved to object again, but was silenced by a glare from both other men.

Scully forced herself to answer without really giving that situation and its implications any thought. Here, she knew that she had to answer by the book in order to keep them both out of trouble. "Well, of course, Sir, I would say no."

"Good. Keep that in mind." He closed his file. "That about does it for today. We will discuss this matter and let you know of our decision tomorrow morning. For now, I suggest that you return to your motel and get some rest. It has been a long day for all of us."

Scully rose to leave. She saw Skinner breathing deeply, as if he were preparing for some battle. Scully knew that he would be the one who would fight for Mulder and herself to stay together. The man in brown scowled at her as she walked out, while the third man looked out the window, seemingly disinterested.

As soon as Scully arrived at the motel, she walked through her room to the door to the adjoining room, which had been left ajar.

She found Mulder lying on his bed, gazing at the ceiling. At her approach, he stood up and walked towards her, worried.

"How did it go? Are they going to split us up?"

"I don't know."

"Oh." He paused. Then, "Scully, I'm sorry. I should have told you what I was doing, regardless of anything."

"Don't apologize. You did what you thought was right. You can't look back and have so many regrets…"

"Yes, you can. You know, Scully, I almost died out there. As they leveled that gun at my face all I could think of was how much I'd regret. I'd regret not finding the truth, I would regret never finding my sister, never avenging my father… I would regret so much. But most of all I would regret not being able to see you again. Not being able to tell you how I really feel."

"Oh, Mulder, I know." Tears were welling up in her eyes. "I know." She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I feel the same way. And I never want to lose you. I had feared that you were dead and…" She was crying now. He stroked her hair gently.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Scully sadly pulled herself away from Mulder and went back into her room. He opened the door to find Skinner looking at him.

"Mulder, I'm glad to see that you are okay. Is Scully here?"

"No, Sir, why would she be here? I think she's sleeping."

"Well, then, could you tell her that I was able to convince the review board not to take any action? They were pretty brutal in there and I could tell she was worried, so I wanted to quell her fears as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'll tell her."

"Good." Skinner turned to leave.

"And, Sir?" Mulder called out.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Skinner just nodded before walking out. Mulder closed the door and smiled genuinely for the first time that day. He had been so worried about so much. Now, relief flooded him and he just felt happy and grateful.

Quickly, he walked to the door to Scully's room and knocked.

"Come in," she called.

He entered to find her flipping through a magazine on her bed. Her eyes had dried and she seemed to be in better spirits. "That was just Skinner. He wanted me to tell you that they decided to take no action."

It was Scully's turn to smile. With new energy, she rose and strode to the mini-bar. "Would you like anything?"

"No, I'm good."

"Okay."

She turned to face him. They just looked at each other for a moment.

Finally Mulder broke the silence. "So, I hear they asked you all kinds of interesting questions."

"Yeah."

"I'm guessing they asked you that one about if your partner approached you and asked…"

She blushed slightly. "Oh, yes, I most certainly got that one."

"Ah. And what did you say?" His tone was playful, but Scully could see the seriousness in his eyes.

"I told them that I would say no. What else was I supposed to say?"

"Oh." He seemed hesitant for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind. He took a step closer to her. "Are you completely sure about that answer?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

She went to move back until it hit her that she was standing against the wall. She realized that she was in what was quickly becoming a dangerous situation. He was so close and she had wanted him for so long, but she also knew all the possible consequences.

"I…" her breath came out quickly and her words were a whisper as she tried to get herself to go against everything she was feeling. "I…"

Mulder leaned down and kissed her gently on the mouth. "No," she said absent-mindedly against his lips as, without thought, she pressed herself closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He took his lips from hers only to kiss down her neck and then lower. She moaned softly.

Suddenly, he pulled away and just looked at her, both their breathing ragged. She looked confused. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know, you said no. I… I just couldn't help it. I should go…"

Before even she knew what she was doing, Scully pulled him back against her. She was beyond thought now. "No, Mulder. Don't stop."

His lips caught hers again, and the kiss grew more passionate as they moved from the wall to the bed.

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The next morning, Scully awoke lying in the arms of her partner. Slowly the memories of last night drifted back to her. She felt that she should have been feeling shame or guilt right now, but those emotions were nowhere to be found. What they had done felt right, it had been both necessary and natural for them. Now, all they felt was contentment and love.

Scully snuggled closer to him, and Mulder tightened his arm around her frame.

She had no regrets. Nor did he.

Of course, they both knew that, after this, they would need to go back to how they were. They would need to remember not to admit their feelings, to let the tension between them remain unexplored, to try to have a professional relationship.

But for right now, this moment was enough.

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Please read and review for me! 

Basically, if you're interested, I'm plannign on posting one more one-shot, then I am working on another multi-chapter story. Hope you're interested!


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